The Nagant M1895 Revolver is a seven-shot, gas-seal

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

designed and produced by Belgian industrialist Léon Nagant for the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. The Nagant M1895 was chambered for a proprietary cartridge,

7.62×38mmR 7.62×38mmR (also known as 7.62 mm Nagant and Cartridge, Type R) is an ammunition Cartridge (firearms), cartridge designed for use in the Russian Nagant M1895 revolver. A small number of experimental submachine guns (e.g., Tokarev 1927), des ...

, and featured an unusual "gas-seal" system, in which the cylinder moved forward when the gun was cocked, to close the gap between the cylinder and the

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

, providing a boost to the muzzle velocity of the bullet and allowing the weapon to be suppressed (an unusual characteristic for a revolver). In fact, a 38mm long shell covers the whole bullet for this very purpose as well. This way, early Nagant users would avoid dealing with gases of

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

. Its design would inspire the

Pieper M1893 The Pieper M1893 was a double action revolver carbine with a gas seal system that used the 8mm Pieper Carbine cartridge. Design and development The development of the weapon began in 1893 by the Belgian gunsmith Henri Pieper and from 1896 it ...

carbine and

Steyr 1893 revolver Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd l ...

Russian M1895

Léon Nagant and his brother Émile were well known in the Russian Tsar's court and military administration because of the part they had played in the design of the Russian service rifle, the

Mosin–Nagant The Mosin–Nagant is a five-shot, bolt-action, internal magazine–fed military rifle. Known officially as the 3-line rifle M1891 and informally in Russia and former Soviet Union as Mosin's rifle ( ru , винтовка Мосина, ISO 9: ) ...

Model 1891. The Nagant M1895 was adopted as the standard issue

side arm Sidearm, side-arm or Side Arm(s) may refer to: *Sidearm (weapon), a backup weapon *Sidearm (baseball), a baseball throwing technique *Sidearm, a flying disc (Frisbee) throw *'' Side Arms Hyper Dyne'', a 1986 arcade game *AGM-122 Sidearm The ...

for the Imperial Russian Army and

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

officers, where it replaced earlier

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

models such as the

Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 is a compact executive sedan that is battery powered and produced by Tesla. Limited production of the Model 3 began in mid-2017, with the first production vehicle rolling off the assembly line on July 7, 2017. The offici ...

.Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 248. Production began in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

, Belgium; however Russia purchased the manufacturing rights in 1898, and moved production to the

Tula Arsenal Imperial Tula Arms Plant (russian: Императорский Тульский оружейный завод, Imperatorskiy Tulsky Oruzheiny Zavod) is a Russian weapons manufacturer founded by Tsar Peter I of Russia in 1712 in Tula, Tula Oblast as ...

in Russia, and was soon producing 20,000 examples per year. Until 1918 it was produced in two versions: a double-action version for officers, and a cheaper single-action version for the lower ranks. It continued to be used after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and Soviet security forces. The distinctive shape and name helped it achieve cult status in Russia and in the early 1930s the presentation of a Nagant M1895 revolver with an embossed Red Star was one of the greatest honors that could be bestowed on a Party Member. The common Russian name for the revolver, наган (''nagan'') became synonymous with the concept of the revolver in general and was applied to such weapons regardless of actual make or model. As early as 1933 the M1895 had started to be replaced by the Tokarev semi-automatic pistol but was never fully replaced until the

Makarov pistol The Makarov pistol or PM ( rus, Пистоле́т Мака́рова, r=Pistolét Makárova, p=pʲɪstɐˈlʲet mɐˈkarəvə, t=Makarov's Pistol) is a Soviet semi-automatic pistol. Under the project leadership of Nikolay Fyodorovich Makarov, it ...

in 1952. It was still produced and used in great numbers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and remained in use with the

Russian Railways Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»), OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both manag ...

, postal service, and some remote police forces for many years. In the Russian Federation, it was only retired from use with postal security service in 2003, and from bailiff security service (Федеральная служба судебных приставов) in 2009.

Technical characteristics

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

s typically have a small gap (sometimes called the flash gap) between the cylinder and the barrel to allow the cylinder to revolve. The bullet must "jump" this gap when fired, which can have an adverse effect on accuracy, especially if the barrel and chamber are misaligned. The gap also is a path for the escape of high pressure hot gases. Expensive revolvers such as

Korth Korth is a high-end firearms manufacturer based in Lollar, Hesse, Germany. Their high-end revolvers cost over €3,000 and their semi-automatic pistols cost over €4,000. History The company was founded in 1954 by Willi Korth, a railway engin ...

and

Manurhin Manurhin is a trademark used by Chapuis Armes since 1998. It is used to designate the Manurhin MR73 revolver family, manufactured at Saint-Bonnet-le-Château, France. The genesis of the term “Manurhin” is ''Manufacture de Machines du Haut- ...

are hand-fitted, keeping the gap to a minimum. Mass-produced revolvers may have a gap as large as 0.25mm. The M1895 by contrast, has a mechanism which, as the hammer is cocked, first turns the cylinder and then moves it forward, closing the gap between the cylinder and the barrel. The cartridge, also unique, plays an important part in sealing the gun to prevent the escape of propellant gases. The bullet is deeply seated, entirely within the cartridge case, and the case is slightly reduced in diameter at its mouth. The barrel features a short conical section at its rear; this accepts the mouth of the cartridge, completing the gas seal. By sealing the gap, the velocity of the bullet is increased by 15 to 45 m/s (50 to 150 ft/s.) This feature also eliminates the possibility of injury from gases escaping through the gap, which can injure a finger if the user holds the gun with a finger positioned beside the gap. Nagant-holstered

The disadvantage of this design is that Nagant revolvers were laborious and time-consuming to reload, with the need to manually eject each of the used cartridges, and reload one cartridge at a time through a loading gate. At the time the revolver was designed, this system was obsolete. In British service the

Webley Revolver The Webley Revolver (also known as the Webley Top-Break Revolver or Webley Self-Extracting Revolver) was, in various designations, a standard issue service pistol for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, and countries of the British Empire a ...

uses a top-break cylinder and star extractor to simultaneously eject all spent cartridges and in American service the

Smith & Wesson Model 10 The Smith & Wesson Model 10, previously known as the Smith & Wesson .38 Hand Ejector Model of 1899, the Smith & Wesson Military & Police or the Smith & Wesson Victory Model, is a K-frame revolver of worldwide popularity. In production since 1899 ...

uses a swing-out cylinder and star extractor to simultaneously eject all spent cartridges; therefore replacing older single-action revolvers with a side-loading gate and ejector rod to remove spent cartridges individually in succession. However, the Nagant design did have the advantage of requiring less machining than more modern designs. The Nagant M1895 was made in both single-action and

double-action Double action (or double-action) refers to one of two systems in firearms where the trigger both cocks and releases the hammer. *Double-action only (DAO) firearms trigger: The trigger both cocks and releases the hammer. There is no single-action f ...

models before and during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

; they are known colloquially as the “Private's model” and the “Officer’s model”, respectively. Production of the single-action model seems to have stopped after 1918, with some exceptions, including examples made for target competition. Most single-action revolvers were later converted to double-action, making original single-action revolvers rather rare. Whether fired in single action or double action, the Nagant M1895 has a markedly heavy trigger pull (about ~12 lbs for single and ~20 lbs for double). Enthusiasts have been able to adjust the pull by adjusting the V shaped spring, either by grinding it or shimming it.

History and usage

The M1895 revolver was used extensively by the Russian Imperial Army and later by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

after the Russian Revolution. In Russian service, it was known for its extreme sturdiness and ability to withstand abuse. As one former Imperial Russian officer stated, "if anything went wrong with the M1895, you could fix it with a hammer" It was widely employed by the Bolshevik secret police, the

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...

, as well as its Soviet successor agencies, the

OGPU The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU; russian: Объединённое государственное политическое управление) was the intelligence and state security service and secret police of the Soviet Union f ...

and

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

. Seven Nagant revolvers were used by

communist revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution often, but not necessarily, inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, socialism can be used as an intermediate stage ...

aries to execute the Russian imperial family and their servants in July 1918. In the police role, it was frequently seen with a cut-down barrel to aid in concealment by plainclothes agents. Despite the advent of the more modern Soviet

TT pistol The TT-30,, "7.62 mm Tokarev self-loading pistol model 1930", TT stands for Tula, Russia, Tula-Tokarev) commonly known simply as the Tokarev, is an out-of-production Soviet semi-automatic pistol. It was developed in 1930 by Fedor Tokarev as a ...

, the M1895 remained in production and use throughout

. The Nagant's sealed firing system meant that the Nagant revolver, unlike most other revolvers, could make effective use of a sound

suppressor A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that reduces the acoustic intensity Sound intensity, also known as acoustic intensity, is defined as the power carried by sound waves per unit ...

, and suppressors were sometimes fitted to it. Suppressed M1895 Nagant revolvers, modified in clandestine workshops, also turned up in the hands of

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tacti ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

as assassination weapons. There is an example of a suppressed Nagant M1895 in the

CIA Museum The CIA Museum, administered by the Center for the Study of Intelligence, is a national archive for the collection, preservation, documentation and exhibition of intelligence artifacts, culture, and history. The collection, which currently numbe ...

Langley, Virginia Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Langley is often used as a metonym for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as it is home to its headquarters, the Geor ...

, USA. The weapon has been considered to be "antique" in Belgium so it became legal to be in possession of the weapon. In 2013 the weapon was again prohibited. Nagant revolvers have been found with the terrorist Amédy Coulibaly in 2015 and with a Dutch arms dealer.

Variants

Military

* Nagant “Private's model” (''«солдатский» наган'') - a single-action version for

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

s and soldiers * Nagant “Officer’s model” (''«офицерский» наган'') - a double-action version for officers * suppressed Nagant with sound suppressor known as the " BRAMIT device" (BRAtya MITiny - "Mitin Brothers") - produced since 1931 for Soviet reconnaissance and scout troops * Ng wz. 30 (

Nagant wz. 30 Rewolwer Nagant wz. 30 and wz. 32 were two Polish derivatives of the Nagant M1895 revolver. They were almost identical to the Soviet variants with only minor differences in weight, length and sights design. The Nagant M1895 was mass-produced ...

)

Civilian

* TOZ-36 (ТОЗ-36) - since 1962 * TOZ-49 (ТОЗ-49) * KR-22 «Sokol» (''КР-22 «Сокол»'') - .22 LR * Nagant 1910 - An improved version with a swing-out cylinder. It was never accepted into service and had poor civilian market sales. *Shadow-7 -

Carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighter ...

variant with a 450mm barrel, produced in 2020 by Russian company Test-Oruzhie, chambered for 5.45×18mm.

Cartridges

Russian

7.62mm Nagant is also known as 7.62×38mmR (Rimmed) or "Cartridge, Type R". The projectile is seated below the mouth of the cartridge, with the cartridge crimp sitting just above the bullet. When fired, the crimp expands into the forcing cone, completing the gas seal and ostensibly increasing muzzle velocity by approximately 75 ft/s. Aftermarket cylinders for .32 can be installed, allowing the Nagant to safely fire .32 H&R Magnum or

.32 ACP .32 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol, also known as .32 Automatic) is a centerfire pistol cartridge. It is a semi-rimmed, straight-walled cartridge developed by firearms designer John Browning, initially for use in the FN M1900 semi-automatic pi ...

. Shooting any ammunition other than the 7.62x38mmR cartridge with the original cylinder can cause bodily injury from bullet shrapnel or escaping gas, and the excessive pressures produced by some .32 ammunition could also cause catastrophic failure of the cylinder or frame. 76238comparison

Proper fitting ammunition can be reloaded from

.32-20 Winchester The .32-20 Winchester, also known as .32 WCF (Winchester center fire), was the first small-game lever-action cartridge that Winchester produced.

brass by using the Lee Nagant die set or .30" carbine dies and 9mm Luger shell-holders in the reloading press. This allows the reloaders to work up a load that fits their needs and is specific for the Nagant. While this eliminates the bulged/split/stuck cases experienced when using .32 S&W and .32 H&R, the gas seal that made the Nagant famous will still not fully function as the .32-20 is not long enough to protrude past the cylinder like the original Nagant ammunition.

Swedish / Norwegian

Other Nagant revolver designs were also adopted by police and military services of Sweden (7.5mm M1887), Norway (M1893), Poland (Nagant wz. 30), and Greece ( M1895). The Swedish and Norwegian Nagants used a different cartridge, the 7.5 mm Nagant. This ammunition is interchangeable with the

7.5mm 1882 Ordnance The Swiss 7.5mm center-fire revolver cartridge, also known as 7.5x23mmR, was used militarily in the 1882 and 1882/1929 revolvers of the Swiss army, as well as in Swiss civilian revolvers of the 'bulldog' type. The case is of brass; the heele ...

(aka Swiss 7.5mm revolver).

Users

* : Used as a training weapon * * * * * * : Used by security guards as late as 1996 * * Jones, Richard D. ''Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010''. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). . * :

People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad People's Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (in French: ''Mouvement Populaire de Libération de l'Azawad'', MPLA) was a Tuareg militant rebel group in northern Mali (Azawad). Initially based amongst exiles in Algeria and, especially, Libya, M ...

* * : in 1998 were still used by some law enforcement units; until 2003 were used by

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

security guards; at least up to 2006 were used by security guards * : Adopted on 13 May 1895 * * * * : Used by railway security guards and industrial security guards as late as to 2017В Запорожской области охранник украл пистолет из сейфа
// "Индустриалка" от 31 июля 2017

References

Sources

* Wilson, Royce: "The Nagant M1895 Revolver". ''Australian & New Zealand Handgun'', Issue 4 (January 2006). * * Gerard, Henrotin: ''The Nagant revolvers''. HLebooks.com, Ebook (2001). * Gerard, Henrotin: ''Nagant revolver Model 1878 explained''. HLebooks.com, Ebook (2014).

External links

Modern Firearms: Nagant model of 1895 (Belgium - Russia)

Exploded Parts Diagram of M1895 Nagant Revolver

NAGANT info

Nagant 1895 Pictorial

{{WWIIUSSRInfWeapons 7.62×38mmR firearms .32 ACP firearms Double-action revolvers Early revolvers Military revolvers Police weapons Revolvers of the Russian Empire Revolvers of the Soviet Union Single-action revolvers Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1895 World War I Russian infantry weapons Russo-Japanese war weapons of Russia World War II infantry weapons of the Soviet Union